That's Life On The Highway

My Turn

February 05, 1990|By DAVID T. GATO Guest Columnist

Five days a week, I drive Interstate 64 from Newport News to Norfolk in the morning and back in the afternoon. I am fortunate to have a comfortable and powerful sports car with a nice stereo. I enjoy observing my fellow drivers on the "highway of life" with relative impunity. Despite their diversity, there are definite types of drivers on the interstate who either add to the fun of driving on the nice days or compound our misery on the bad days.

No essay on the driving habits of Peninsula residents can fail to mention our large number of pickup truck drivers. I wonder what it is that possesses a pickup truck driver to believe he (or she) owns the highway?

In my observations, it appears God must have endowed each of them with the right to travel 10 to 15 mph above the prevailing speed limit. This means no one, in any lane, is going fast enough for them. It also must be boldly printed in the pickup truck owner's manual that the proper position for your vehicle is 4 feet behind the vehicle in front of you, and that your headlights must be on bright.

Do they have a mission in life to get where they are going faster than the rest of us?

Another somewhat irritating driver type is the person who slows down at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel entrance. This type has been written about many times in the past. They can slow down for any number of ridiculous reasons. They slow down because a big ship is passing over. They slow down to watch the traffic moving (or not moving) in the opposite direction. They slow down because they discover they are going 56 mph instead of 55.

Also associated with tunnel traffic is the driver who must follow the car in front as close as possible. This allows him to respond to every change in the traffic flow by instantly putting his brakes on. This magnifies the "centipede" or "slinky" effect as well as keeping the tunnel interior well lit with red tail lights and well heated with hot tempers.

The other type of driver worth mentioning is the person who must constantly weave in and out of each lane. No one is safe because they use all the lanes each quarter mile. If I see one coming in the rear-view mirror I like to close the gap with the car in front of me. It doesn't seem to matter. They will still cut in front of me, even if there is only a one car length gap.

The last type of driver is the one you can't see because they have dark, tinted windows. They usually have a pinstripe, zigzag design on the side windows of their red Ford Escorts. Because you can't see them, they are authorized (by someone) to do anything they want. They go fast, they go slow, they weave in and out of traffic, and they are anonymous.

You might ask, "What kind of driver am I?" Well, in all modesty, I am a good driver. I drive the prevailing speed limit. I do my best to avoid the unsafe drivers and to "torque off" the rude ones. So if you are one of those types, watch out! I could be the one that is making you lose your temper, but I will give you a big grin when you finally drive by.

* Gato, a Newport News resident, serves in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk. He is married with two children.

For a chance to share your own insight, send three double-spaced typewritten pages or less to My turn, MP1203, Features Department, 7505 Warwick Blvd., Newport News 23607. Essays should be personal, not political. Only the best will be published, edited to available space.